Canine Companions
by brokenbottleaurora
Summary: A series of interconnected drabbles in which Remus and Sirius explore friendship, loyalty, and unconditional love.
1. Howling at the Moon

**Disclaimer for all chapters: If the Potterverse was mine, things would have gone very differently. That said, many thanks to JK Rowling for letting us play in the world she created. It's one hell of a sandbox.**

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"No… Leave them alone… No… Noooooo, not them…" Moony moaned, waking Sirius from his slumber.

He sighed. The nights leading up to a full moon were terrible, but the night immediately after was always the worst for Remus. Sirius slid out of bed, shivering as his feet hit the stone floor, and parted the bed hangings like he did every time Moony had a nightmare.

He was curled up in a ball on his side, shaking and beginning to thrash. Sirius climbed carefully into bed with him, making sure not to wake the other boy. As soon as his arms wrapped around Moony, the teenage werewolf quieted. After a few minutes he drifted once more into peaceful sleep, his head on Sirius's chest.

Sirius often felt a few butterflies in his gut when Remus looked at him a certain way. But on nights like this, when the other boy was so vulnerable and yet so comfortable in his arms, Sirius thought his stomach would burst with the fluttering of a million tiny wings.


	2. Howler Dreams

Remus had always been a light sleeper, thanks to the wolf. It had its uses, namely that he was hard to prank while sleeping. It also meant he knew when anyone in his dorm had a nightmare.

Sirius's bad dreams only happened when his mother sent him a howler, and they always started with him talking rather clearly in his sleep. "Stop it… bastard… mummy please… I can't… please…"

If he didn't wake up, Padfoot would start moaning, which quickly led to tears and thrashing about. Remus couldn't stand to see him like that. The young werewolf crept out of his bed and slid into Sirius's, carefully pulling the other boy against him in a warm embrace.

Nine times out of ten this worked, and Sirius fell back into silent, peaceful dreams.

Some nights he would continue to talk, but it was always of more pleasant things.

Tonight, Remus gently wrapped his arms around Padfoot. The boy promptly turned in his arms and snuggled into his chest. "Mooooony," he sighed contentedly.

Remus froze, afraid he had been caught. But Sirius began snoring softly, and Remus was able to relax. As he began to fall asleep with this boy in his arms, he felt a warm feeling growing in his chest at the thought of doing it again.


	3. Canine in the China Shop

"What do you mean you already knew we were dating?" Remus gasped.

"We really thought we were being subtle!" Sirius cried.

Lily looked at them incredulously. "You always have your hands all over each other, whether you're holding hands or smacking each other. You basically sit on top of each other in the common room, in the library, in class, at meals. This is probably the worst kept secret in all of Hogwarts, and it's mostly your own fault."

Peter smirked. "James and I knew you liked each other long before either of you grew the balls to tell each other."

Sirius and Remus exchanged confused glances.

"You've been crawling into each other's bed for the past five years, for Merlin's sake! We're just glad we haven't needed to cast our silencing charms yet!" James said with a laugh.

"YEARS?!" the shrieked together.

"But we've only been together for a few months," Remus reasoned.

Sirius blushed. "I mean, I may have occasionally cuddled with you a little when you had a nightmare after a full moon."

"And I did the same every time you got a new howler from your mum," Remus admitted. "Not that I've liked you that long!" he quickly added, dropping his gaze to his shoes.

"Me either!" Sirius echoed, his flush deepening.

After a tense moment, Lily snorted. "Subtlety doesn't suit either of you."

The five friends laughed, glad to put their secrets behind them.


	4. Sparkle Sparkle Pooch

Everything Sirius Black had touched for the past week was now covered in gold glitter.

Remus was currently holding a tiny grudge against Lily Evans for introducing his boyfriend to muggle glitter. Normal humans could take this information and use it sparingly, appropriately. Not Sirius.

He had stumbled upon Lily, Marlene, and Alice talking about their outfits and accessories for the Potters' annual New Year's Party, which was coming up in a month or so.

"I think I'm going to put a Temporary Sticking charm on the last few centimeters of my hair and then dip it in gold glitter. I think it will look brilliant with my dark red dress," Lily had said. Being unfamiliar with the muggle world, the other two girls were as confused by the word "glitter" as Sirius was while eavesdropping behind Lily.

Tired of Black creeping over her shoulder, she sat all three purebloods down and gave them the full run down of glitter: its use, its properties, its pros and cons. Everyone agreed it would be a splendid idea for the party, and the girls went back to discussing their holiday plans. Sirius went away with an idea.

Remus was still unsure as to how Sirius even got his hands on an industrial-sized container of gold glitter, but James and Lily may or may not have been involved. The young man had started with drawing a design on himself with a sticking charm and carefully covering it with sparkles. He slowly progressed to cover more skin, and each successful endeavor saw him make a greater mess. It had been the final straw when Sirius doused his entire head of hair with the stuff.

Now, it's not that Remus minded how the glitter looked or what Sirius did with it. No. What drove Remus insane was that, once glitter got on something, it never. came. off. He'd even seen magic fail to clear it away!

It had officially been a week since the two wizards slept in the same bed. Remus didn't like it, but there was no way he could sleep in a bed full of tiny sparkling flakes of glitter. Remus wasn't sharing a bunk with Sirius until he- and his "devil dust"- were all cleaned up.


	5. The Care and Keeping of Sirius Black

"Okay, do you have everything you need? Clothes? Money? Gringotts Card? Toothbrush?" Lily said, frantically looking Remus up and down to see if she could think of something he might be missing.

"Lils, breathe. I'm going to be _fine_. I'm only going to the continent for a couple months; I'm not leaving for the Republic, never to return," Remus quipped.

"Nerd," Peter scoffed, trying to laugh away his sadness.

"Remus, please don't hesitate to use that card if you need it," James urged him. "There's a reason Dumbledore has been quietly fundraising. This money has been earmarked for these missions, so put it to good use."

"I know, James, I will. Listen, I know I'm going away for a while, and leaving you all in charge of Sirius for a month is a lot to ask," Remus said.

The three friends shared a knowing look while an outraged shriek came from the upper floor of the Potter's Cottage.

Remus continued, "In preparation, I have left you three a complimentary bowl of advice on how to deal with him." With a wave of his wand, a large glass bowl filled with small slips of paper appeared on the kitchen counter.

Immediately, Lily dove in and started reading. She sped through piece after piece and finally turned her questioning face to Remus. "They're all the same?"

Remus nodded, and the two other men each grabbed a slip.

Repeat after me: "Sirius, stop doing that"

Seeing the confusion on his friends faces, the werewolf shrugged. "It applies to pretty much everything."

The four shared a laugh, and Remus went on his way, hoping that he left his friends slightly more prepared for the care and keeping of Sirius Black.

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AN: Inspiration for this chapter comes from the tumblr account incorrectwolfstarquotes. If you enjoy this ship, check it out. You won't be disappointed!


	6. Puppy Kisses

Sirius walked through the back door of the Potter's cottage with a goofy grin on his face. He closed the door, leaned back against it, and sighed dreamily.

A lamp flicked on, illuminating James and Lily Potter seated on the sofa, and Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin as he automatically went for his wand. Recognizing his friends and temporary roommates, he relaxed.

"What the hell are you two still awake for?" he asked, sagging into his favorite old arm chair.

"Waiting up for you!" Lily cried. "We know this was your first official anniversary with Remus, and we want to hear everything about your date!"

James cleared his throat. "For the record, some of us don't want to hear _everything_." That earned him a swat from his fiancé.

Sirius smirked at his two best friends. "It was incredible. We went to dinner in this little muggle café that Remus knew, and they gave us a special table in the back with a ton of candles surrounding us. We had the best time just talking, catching up on pretty much everything since he's spent the last six months on the continent. Letters are fine, you know, but it's so much better to hear it straight from the werewolf's mouth. Anyway, after we finished dinner and the best chocolate cake I've ever had, honest to Merlin, we went to a little jazz club and listened to music, had a couple cocktails, and even danced a bit. Oh, Lily, it was magical!" he finished with yet another sigh.

Lily Potter was grinning so hard that it looked painful. "I knew he would plan something wonderful! He has the best ideas."

"Hey!" James groused.

"Hush, you've already got a fiancé, obviously you're pretty good at it too," the redhead chided.

Somewhat mollified, James leaned against the arm of the sofa. "It does sound great, Sirius. Maybe you could show us where that jazz club is sometime."

Sirius perked up. "Of course! Ooh, and I want to show you, there's this great little alley a couple meters away. There aren't any doors, so when we left Remus and I snuck into it to do a little celebrating in private. I swear, he's the best kisser I've ever had. He does this thing with his tongue-"

"OKAY, I'm officially out. I'm glad your date went well, Sirius, but I don't need to hear anymore. Goodnight!" James exclaimed, running for the stairs and the sanctuary of the master bedroom.

Lily and Sirius just laughed and settled in to discuss all the lurid details.


End file.
